I Dislike Your Favorite Team

So the lads of SoccerPro.com approached this humble blogger and said, "Hey, pal, you seem to enjoy soccer--would you like to test and review a product that we have? We just ask that you review the thing fairly, and link to our website in the review, and the product is yours to keep, regardless of what you thought of it."

Now some of you cynical bastards might think that I would purposefully review anything I received positively, just to stay on the good sides of the folks at SoccerPro, and thus (hopefully) guarantee that I continue to get free stuff.

Ah, but I've outwitted you there--I've taken so long to write a review, any review, positive or negative, that the lads of SoccerPro probably won't be sending me anything ever again. Honestly, I received my choice of product so long ago, that now that I have gotten around to reviewing it, I'm not 100% sure it is still available. We'll find out together.

The product in question is a Diadora Serie A soccer ball. For those of you who don't know shit about the world's finest game, "Serie A" is the Italian Top-Flight league. Diadora is a top-flight company that makes shoes, balls, etc.

(If I may digress, somewhat--when I was a young, young soccer player--ages 10-13, or thereabouts, I would be able to practice in any old shoe, but something about the 90 minutes of a real game made my achilles tendons (in both feet) tighten to the point of pain. I could barely walk. It was commonly regarded to be the fault of my shoes, and I went through shoe after shoe looking for one that didn't hurt. Patricks did the job for awhile, but the shoe that I finally fell in love with, and wore for about 10 straight years were Diadoras. (Not the same pair, mind you.)

So I'm biased towards Diadora. I'm somewhat biased towards the supplier of the Serie A. Something tells me Diadora covets the endorsement of Italy over my own. Which is bullshit. I can deliver asses in the seats, Diadora.

The thing about a ball is that it doesn't need to pass that many requirements, really--a great ball isn't going to exceptionally enhance the performance of some one isn't very good at the game. You can give me the most expensive ball in the world, and you can give Lionel Messi a mylar balloon full of rocks and angry bees, and he'll be able to do more with his Bee n' Rock Balloon Ball than I will with the Most Expensive Ball in the World.

So kids, don't go apeshit over the idea that a ball will make you better--it won't--not much, at least. But this Diadora ball in a high-quality, long-lasting type of spherical object, and I do recommend it. At first, it did seem a bit undersized, but I've done the palming the ball tests I used to do on Size 5, and I can't quite palm this thing, which means it's about the right size. In a world of ugly colors on the pitch gone mad (Red Shoes, Yellow Shoes, EVEN WHITE SHOES) the Diadora has a nice classic look to it--all white panels, with minimal decoration. It feels right on the boot, and it travels pure in the air.

And it does hit the price range in about the right place. A twenty dollar ball is basically bullshit, and you should stay away from it. But very few people really, truly need the $100 balls that exist (and in truth, go up from there). This ball is about $60, it's made by Diadora, and that's all you really need to know. 2 Big Toes Up for the Diadora Serie A ball. Feel free to handle your own balls (purchasing) here:

Diadora soccer balls
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